New polling from Sen. Tom Cotton’s (R-Ark.) PAC shows that a plurality of Americans want ICE to tone it down, but they continue to support deportations.
America One Policies PAC, the Cotton-linked group, commissioned a poll that showed 41% of respondents want “immigration and enforcement and deportations” to continue “but ICE’s tactics need to be toned down to avoid unnecessary harm and confrontation.” Eight-eight percent of Republicans and independents agree with that statement.
Just 24% of respondents said they identify with this statement: “ICE’s aggressive tactics are necessary. Illegal immigration is a serious problem and we need tough enforcement to remove people who are here illegally.”
The polling underscores that President Donald Trump must curtail ICE’s hard-line enforcement approach or face a political backlash.
But Americans still agree that the Trump administration should continue with the deportation agenda.
The poll also showed that 78% of respondents agree that the government should deport immigrants who are in the country illegally and have criminal records. Fifty-six percent of respondents say they support deporting people who are in the country illegally and arrived within the last four years. And 52% want to deport all undocumented immigrants in the United States.
The basic takeaway here is that, according to the PAC’s polling, Americans are comfortable with deportation, but ICE needs to change its tactics. Cotton discussed this poll with Senate Republicans at lunch on Thursday.
